02/14/2022
As early as 135 BC, Chinese scholar Han Yin wrote "Flowers of plants and trees are generally five-pointed, but those of snow, which are called "ying" are always six-pointed".
Nearly seventeen centuries later, in 1611, the German scientist Johannes Kepler wrote: “There must be a cause why snow has the shape of a six-cornered starlet. It cannot be chance.”
By 1637, the French philosopher, scientist and mathematician René Descartes, made stylized representations of snowflake structures in his Discours de la methode. Ultimately, through the use of compound microscopes, 17th century scientists were able to see for the first time the complex symmetrical patterns of snow crystals.
The photomicrographs of Wilson A. Bentley (American, 1865-1931) are celebrated not only because of their astonishing beauty but because they were the world's first photographs of snowflakes. To make his negatives, Bentley used a large bellows camera coupled with his microscope, glass slides and a feather.
To silhouette the intricate structures against a dark background, Bentley required further innovation: "After developing the negatives, he needed to execute one more vital step. Applying a photography technique known as blocking or blocking out, Bentley spent hours using an etching knife and other sharp-pointed tools to scrape away the dark emulsion around the snow crystal's edges in order to produce a single aesthetically pleasing image. The artistic side of Bentley didn't override the scientific one, however. He used a duplicate negative for this final process, always retaining the original as documentary evidence."
Jeanne Schinto, "No Two Alike," John Hopkins Magazine (Winter 2019)
"Snow Day" is now on view at 55 Main Street in East Hampton through February 27.
Open Saturday & Sunday 11 - 5 and weekdays by appointment.
